State Supreme Court Refuses to Block Execution of Kelly
The state Supreme Court refused Tuesday to block Horace Kelly’s execution next week or to review a jury’s conclusion that he is sane enough to be put to death for three Southern California murders.
By a 5-2 vote, without comment, the court denied a hearing on claims by Kelly’s lawyer of numerous legal errors and irregularities in the sanity trial, the first proceeding in a California court since 1950 to consider whether a prisoner was too insane to be executed.
Kelly, 38, is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday for murdering two women and an 11-year-old boy in San Bernardino and Riverside counties during a six-day period in November 1984.
A federal judge in Los Angeles is scheduled to consider a defense request for a stay of execution Wednesday. The state contends that the judge lacks authority to hear the case.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
